Aegis. You’d love it man. No more of that go-where-we-tell-you-to-and-don’t-ask-questions bullshit. With these guys, you get to pick your missions, they pay you up front, and if shit goes tits-up, you can always bail and give them their money back. It’s a fucking sweet deal man.”
After talking my ear off for another half-hour, he finally got up and left a card on the table beside my bed. I stared at it, and ignored the bad news on the television until it was time for my next dose of morphine.
A month later, I was healthy again, and a week after that I was on the payroll. Like most of the colossal fuck-ups I’ve made in my life, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. My phone hadn’t rang in a while, and I had a nagging suspicion after what happened in Baghdad that it wasn’t going to. I had some cash saved up, but it wouldn’t last forever, and it’s not like there was a lot of demand in the private sector for professional murderers. Like a fool, I took the easy way out. And like a fool, I lived to regret it.
Not that it mattered anymore. The CIA, the NSA, Aegis, and maybe even Rocco were all gone, swept aside under the tide of undead that now dominated the world.
And here I was again, sitting out in the cold trying to drink the memories away. I looked up the hill toward Doc Laroux’s place. Eric was no doubt at home enjoying a quiet domestic evening with his new girlfriend. I was happy for him, but I also had to admit to being a bit jealous. They had a good thing going, those two. My love life, meanwhile, had taken a bit of a strange turn.
Whiskey number four had just gone down the hatch when I heard tires humming on pavement. I looked up and saw a bicycle slowing down to turn into my overgrown driveway. The figure riding it was too dark to make out in the gloom, but if I had to guess, I would say it was a woman. I set my empty tumbler on the table beside me and stepped down off the front porch.
The figure came to a halt just a few feet away from me. I took a few steps forward to see who it was.
“Hello, Gabriel. I hope I haven’t come at a bad time.”
I was about to say something exactly to that effect when she shook out her hair and hit me with that scalding smile of hers. The words died on my lips.
“Mind if I come in?” She brushed past me and ran a lingering hand over my arm. The graceful sway of her hips beckoned as she stepped through the front door.
“Liz, I have to be at the camp early tomorrow morning,” I said, stepping in after her. “It’s already late. I don’t know if this is the best time.”
She placed her helmet on the coffee table and sauntered across the room, that smile pinning me in place the whole way. She pressed herself against me, her hands sliding up my chest. Slender fingers curled around the back of my neck.
“You say that every time I come to see you, yet somehow you always manage to perform your duties the next day. It’s a testament to your endurance.”
Her voice was low and husky, her pupils wide as the moon. Those full lips were so close to mine, right there for the taking. I wanted them against my skin so bad I could taste it.
Elizabeth nibbled at my lower lip, and the last vestiges of my resolve crumbled. A whimper escaped her throat as I bruised her lips with a ferocious kiss, lifting her up and pressing her against me. Nails dug into the back of my neck and legs wrapped around me as I carried her toward the bedroom. My lips traced down to her tender, graceful neck and I sank my teeth in, biting hard. She moaned and clutched at me.
“Oh my God...”
I reached the bedroom and released her neck. She tried to kiss me again, but I threw her roughly onto the bed.
“Turn around.” I growled. She complied, rolling over on her stomach and crossing her arms behind her back.
I ripped off my belt and kicked the bedroom door shut behind me.
*****
As always, when I woke up the next morning, she was gone. I rolled over onto my back
After talking my ear off for another half-hour, he finally got up and left a card on the table beside my bed. I stared at it, and ignored the bad news on the television until it was time for my next dose of morphine.
A month later, I was healthy again, and a week after that I was on the payroll. Like most of the colossal fuck-ups I’ve made in my life, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. My phone hadn’t rang in a while, and I had a nagging suspicion after what happened in Baghdad that it wasn’t going to. I had some cash saved up, but it wouldn’t last forever, and it’s not like there was a lot of demand in the private sector for professional murderers. Like a fool, I took the easy way out. And like a fool, I lived to regret it.
Not that it mattered anymore. The CIA, the NSA, Aegis, and maybe even Rocco were all gone, swept aside under the tide of undead that now dominated the world.
And here I was again, sitting out in the cold trying to drink the memories away. I looked up the hill toward Doc Laroux’s place. Eric was no doubt at home enjoying a quiet domestic evening with his new girlfriend. I was happy for him, but I also had to admit to being a bit jealous. They had a good thing going, those two. My love life, meanwhile, had taken a bit of a strange turn.
Whiskey number four had just gone down the hatch when I heard tires humming on pavement. I looked up and saw a bicycle slowing down to turn into my overgrown driveway. The figure riding it was too dark to make out in the gloom, but if I had to guess, I would say it was a woman. I set my empty tumbler on the table beside me and stepped down off the front porch.
The figure came to a halt just a few feet away from me. I took a few steps forward to see who it was.
“Hello, Gabriel. I hope I haven’t come at a bad time.”
I was about to say something exactly to that effect when she shook out her hair and hit me with that scalding smile of hers. The words died on my lips.
“Mind if I come in?” She brushed past me and ran a lingering hand over my arm. The graceful sway of her hips beckoned as she stepped through the front door.
“Liz, I have to be at the camp early tomorrow morning,” I said, stepping in after her. “It’s already late. I don’t know if this is the best time.”
She placed her helmet on the coffee table and sauntered across the room, that smile pinning me in place the whole way. She pressed herself against me, her hands sliding up my chest. Slender fingers curled around the back of my neck.
“You say that every time I come to see you, yet somehow you always manage to perform your duties the next day. It’s a testament to your endurance.”
Her voice was low and husky, her pupils wide as the moon. Those full lips were so close to mine, right there for the taking. I wanted them against my skin so bad I could taste it.
Elizabeth nibbled at my lower lip, and the last vestiges of my resolve crumbled. A whimper escaped her throat as I bruised her lips with a ferocious kiss, lifting her up and pressing her against me. Nails dug into the back of my neck and legs wrapped around me as I carried her toward the bedroom. My lips traced down to her tender, graceful neck and I sank my teeth in, biting hard. She moaned and clutched at me.
“Oh my God...”
I reached the bedroom and released her neck. She tried to kiss me again, but I threw her roughly onto the bed.
“Turn around.” I growled. She complied, rolling over on her stomach and crossing her arms behind her back.
I ripped off my belt and kicked the bedroom door shut behind me.
*****
As always, when I woke up the next morning, she was gone. I rolled over onto my back
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